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I hate that you can't go back and play events... How do you unlock the hidden songs?? I've gotten encores every time, but only 1 double encore so far. The double encore is almost impossible because you get some song thrown at you you've never played and need to nail it first try.

So I've gotten to a point in the game that is making me play this one song Angela to get 90,000 points. I get 89,637 on about the 700th time I played it. I seriously want to break someones face because of this, I hate this god damn song now. I just want to move onto the next f'ing event, but of course I can't until I beat this sh*t song.

See--that's one reason why I don't want to play the "Journey" game. I don't like being pushed and I don't find it compelling. I only recently started playing to qualify songs in order to unlock the Super Ducks and Scale Runner mini-games and once I acheive those meager goals I will never play another event again. Qualifying songs for the first couple of events was easy, but it gets more and more demanding, requiring you to actually level up some to get enough points.

So, I'm interested, as this is a game I'm asking my wife to buy me for Christmas. Do you guys feel that you are progressing as guitarists and learning new songs, or are you just learning how to beat challenges in a game?

I've been playing for several years and I'm self taught, but I think this could be a good tool to motivate me to play more and get better.

Xbox Gamertag/PSN ID: RemoWilliams84

"I started out with nothing, and I still got most of it." -Seasick Steve

I can see now the joystiq reviewer's point, but I don't think it's that absolute. He says it doesn't teach you anything, I think that's wrong. The game will teach you how to play the songs. It may or may not be the right way of teaching. Slowly giving you more notes as you successfully play what's given to start. I'm not positive it's the best way to learn the songs. Sometimes it's harder to play just the chunks they start you on than the full riff. I think the game should have an adaptive AND a selectable difficulty level. There are some tools to learn riffs for whatever song you choose, but they limit the amount of tries before it boots you back to the menu. I think that was a horrible idea. The game would benefit from a practice mode where it repeats the songs at whatever speed you choose, or those riff repeaters WITHOUT the damn limited tries.

I don't think you'll be able to take what you learn here and create your own music, you really need some outside instruction for that. But you can definitely learn the songs they provide.

The limitation on the way the game plays through the events is kind of frustrating. They really should let you just scroll through the songs and play whatever you want. Instead you can play a song, then it puts you back into the event you're currently on. The arcade is probably the most useful. It's kind of limited still, like the scale runner, if you've never played a scale, they don't teach you the scale before you jump into it. You're just given the scale in a tiny picture pattern before you start the game. (Frustrating that the game starts you with the low E string on the bottom, but that picture pattern starts the E string on top.) You can jump into the game and learn it by playing through it, trial and error.

I think the game is not the best tool for someone that's never played a musical instrument or has no knowledge of musical theory at all. Someone that has a little of those can make use of the game and some other instructional tools to learn guitar. Someone that has more knowledge can probably make the best use of the game as a practice tool.

The game would benefit from a practice mode where it repeats the songs at whatever speed you choose, or those riff repeaters WITHOUT the damn limited tries.

They've said that they're removing the 5-attempt limit for the riff repeater in the next patch. They seem to be listening to people's complaints in their forum.

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The limitation on the way the game plays through the events is kind of frustrating. They really should let you just scroll through the songs and play whatever you want.

Exactly--there should be an analog to RB's "Quickplay" mode.

One of the things that I liked best about Rock Band 3 is that they removed all requirement to play any part of any sort of campaign. There's nothing to unlock that's at all important to me (just junk like clothing, accessories and instruments).

>> Do you guys feel that you are progressing as guitarists and learning new songs

Yes, I always feel like I am making real progress. I started as a beginner, so even RB3 Pro easy level felt very challenging.

I'm extremely busy so I only get to practice somewhere in the 2-7 hours per week range. So there is a lot of 2 steps forward, 1 step back as I'm always learning and forgetting.

When I look back on the last year and add up the hours it feels like I should be farther along. I don't think RB3 or Rocksmith are very efficient ways to learn guitar. On the other hand, if you are already a good guitar player, I think they can teach you songs very quickly. It's common place to see brand new dlc songs played at 95%+ on youtube.

So efficent, maybe not, but RB3 and Rocksmith are extremely fun. I recommend both to any and all guitar players.

This came up in the Rocksmith thread on the Rock Band forums a few days ago. There's a company called "Strings by Aurora" which makes sets of colored guitar strings which is offering sets color-coded for Rocksmith (see this). Cute, but a bit expensive--$18+$6 shipping. Of course, they're unique, so you'd expect to pay a bit of a premium. The colored enamel coating might also protect them somewhat from corrosion, so they might last longer. (The company actually does claim that the coating is protective. I found a review of their color coated strings here).

This came up in the Rocksmith thread on the Rock Band forums a few days ago. There's a company called "Strings by Aurora" which makes sets of colored guitar strings which is offering sets color-coded for Rocksmith (see this). Cute, but a bit expensive--$18+$6 shipping. Of course, they're unique, so you'd expect to pay a bit of a premium. The colored enamel coating might also protect them somewhat from corrosion, so they might last longer. (The company actually does claim that the coating is protective. I found a review of their color coated strings here).

wow. never thought of colored strings and didn't know that people did this kind of stuff.

wow. never thought of colored strings and didn't know that people did this kind of stuff.

but the idea of turning a guitar into a toy is kind of funny.

Apparently several artists like to use them on stage--there are a few companies making them. As on that blue guitar, a single color could make an attractive complement to the finish on the body. And given the myriad bizarre shapes that many professional musicians have chosen to have custom guitars made in (and which you can buy off the shelf from many guitar makers), and the many, many bizarre custom finishes, they're already a ton of guitars which look much more like toys than merely adding colored strings would make them.

Personally, I think it borders on blasphemy. I can only imagine what someone would think if they saw them, "Oh look, it's Brian and his amazing technicolor Les Paul!". Never mind that the whole idea is to NOT look at the strings. I understand the need to look at your left hand quickly to position a chord, but I don't see how colored strings will help with the speed of doing that.

Personally, I think it borders on blasphemy. I can only imagine what someone would think if they saw them, "Oh look, it's Brian and his amazing technicolor Les Paul!". Never mind that the whole idea is to NOT look at the strings. I understand the need to look at your left hand quickly to position a chord, but I don't see how colored strings will help with the speed of doing that.

You obviously won't need the string color for playing (or at least you shouldn't for very long), so really the multiple color thing is only interesting if it's aesthetically appealing to you personally. I don't know that I'm so much into the multi-colored thing, but I think that a single color which complements the finish of your guitar would be cool and the strings themselves have reviewed well as strings, in terms of sound and durability (though I did run across one review out of 6 or 7 by a guy who didn't care for them). Colored strings by this company and a couple of others have been used in public performance by professional guitarists and bass players. You can get their strings in a clear coating and they claim to be the only string maker constructing their product from all domestic materials.

Again colored strings are no more "blasphemous" than the 5 million other ways that people have expressively decorated their instruments. If you have $5000 (street price), you can get this Gibson Custom Zakk Wilde Les Paul Bullseye (or even weirder, this Epiphone Zakk Wilde Les Paul Camo) or this Gibson Custom Joe Perry Boneyard Les Paul with its tiger-stripe finish (I do have to say that you don't find so many wildly decorated Gibson or Epiphone LPs as you do other guitar makes). Fender has quite a variety of instruments in wild custom finishes--are they "blasphemous"?

Maybe not blasphemous, but some of them are butt-ugly. I've never been a fan of some of the crazy finishes, but I have no problem with what you call the tiger stripe since it is actually the wood grain. I get where you are coming from. Blasphemy is a strong word, and sarcasm doesn't show on the internet very well. To each his own, though. Especially at some of those prices.

Anyway, today is National Metal Day (according to VH1 Classic). So crank it up to 11 (rocking some Dio as we speak in honor of the occasion, RIP RJD)!

...I have no problem with what you call the tiger stripe since it is actually the wood grain.

I don't think so (though I did at first)--they describe it as the "Green Tiger" finish. It'd be a highly atypical grain pattern for maple, the material of the top (the rest of the body is mahogany). I suppose that it could be very carefully chosen end-grain pieces but I think that you'd have to sort through quite a lot of wood (but for $6300 list it might be worth it ). Whatever.

I just recently had my account hacked and 5440 MS points stolen for GD fifa 12 BS(I don't like any kind of sport, and least of all soccer), that is apparently on european xbox live because clicking on the thing they bought in my transactions is not a valid link on US xbox live website.

Anyway, I had those points for a long time and I'm finally wanting to use them for this game...

I want that Ultra III. It feels like a bit of a bastardisation to have that much technology in a guitar ... BUT ... the nano-mag pickups are awesome, and a feature I would really like to have.

Luckily this isn't available in Canada yet so I can't impulse buy. Once it's available I'll see if I am still itching for it.

I was reading some reviews and it's supposedly only good if you have an accoustic amp or PA system to hook it up to.

The Ultra 2 has the same nano-mag but no USB output, you can probably find cheaper. I'm pretty sure there are other guitars out there with that pickup too. The only thing I would be wary of on the Ultra is the fact that it has a chambered body. If you look at pics at guitarcenter.com you can see the inside of the guitar without the top and see the chambers inside the guitar. It will without a doubt have a different tone than a solid body guitar, which is why you would want a LP. Makes it a hell of a lot lighter though, which is a huge plus for me.

I was also looking at actual Gibson guitars, there are some newer models that don't have that car like finish, which apparently costs hundreds of dollars... Couple are around the same price of that Ultra 3, but admittedly have a lot less techy features.

I wish I get that Chicago Blue colored LP on a guitar that doesn't cost $2300.

The Ultra 2 has the same nano-mag but no USB output, you can probably find cheaper.

Strangely, the street-price for both the Epiphone LP Ultra II and LP Ultra III is the same $750 and the list price is identical. There are more used Ultra IIs for sale (typically $450-$500) but the model's been around longer.

I was reading some reviews and it's supposedly only good if you have an accoustic amp or PA system to hook it up to.

The Ultra 2 has the same nano-mag but no USB output, you can probably find cheaper. I'm pretty sure there are other guitars out there with that pickup too. The only thing I would be wary of on the Ultra is the fact that it has a chambered body. If you look at pics at guitarcenter.com you can see the inside of the guitar without the top and see the chambers inside the guitar. It will without a doubt have a different tone than a solid body guitar, which is why you would want a LP. Makes it a hell of a lot lighter though, which is a huge plus for me.

I was also looking at actual Gibson guitars, there are some newer models that don't have that car like finish, which apparently costs hundreds of dollars... Couple are around the same price of that Ultra 3, but admittedly have a lot less techy features.

I wish I get that Chicago Blue colored LP on a guitar that doesn't cost $2300.

Unless you go with a les paul custom, all of the gibson standard les pauls made today have weight relieved or "chambered" bodies. Here is an excerpt from gibson's les paul standard page:

"... the Les Paul Traditional starts with a Grade-A mahogany body and adds nine strategically placed traditional weight-relief holes for a beefy tone that maintains the resonance of modern Les Pauls, while losing a large portion of the weight"

Xbox Gamertag/PSN ID: RemoWilliams84

"I started out with nothing, and I still got most of it." -Seasick Steve